This invention generally pertains to ordnance devices including submunitions which search an area and, from a long standoff range, utilize an explosively forged penetrator type warhead to attack an armor protected target.
The U.S. Pat. No. 4,356,770 to Atanasoff et al having the same assignee as this invention discloses a munitions system wherein a cylindrical cannister is fired over a target. A spinning motion is imparted to the cannister in order to stabilize its flight. The cannister carries a target sensing infrared device and, when a target is detected, a projectile is fired downward from the bottom of the overflying cannister.
The U.S. Pat. No. 4,492,166 to Purcell discloses another overflying submunition having an infrared detector which scans a target area and provides a terminal trajectory correction capability to enhance target interceptions. In both the Purcell and Atanasoff et al patents, the forward end of the explosive warhead is capped with a parabolic Misznay-Schardin disc. The warhead formed from the explosively forged Misznay-Schardin disc is capable of penetrating armor.
The armor perforation capability of the explosively formed penetrator (EFP) made from the Misznay-Schardin discs is marginal for the new generation of harder armored vehicles. Our invention substantially increases the lethality of an EFP warhead by maximizing slug momentum density on the target. Slug momentum density is directly proportional to both the impact velocity and the slug length component of the velocity vector.